U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) and a bipartisan group of 44 of his Senate colleagues introduced a Congressional Review Act resolution to strike down a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rule that could endanger migrant children who enter the United States illegally without an adult.
The resolution, Senate Joint Resolution 94, cites a rule pertaining to the Unaccompanied Children Program within HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement of the Administration for Children and Families that was finalized in April. The program aims to reunify migrant children with family members or trusted adult sponsors in the United States.
Sen. Young’s office said the HHS rule codifies harmful practices and should be discarded. For example, the rule codifies lax vetting, refusal to consider a sponsor’s criminal history, refusal to share a sponsor’s immigration status with law enforcement officials, and poor standards for home studies after a child has been released to determine the child’s safety with a sponsor, according to the senator’s staff.
“Last year, I joined my Senate Republican colleagues in warning the Biden Administration that its policies were harmful and failed to protect vulnerable children,” Sen. Young said. “Unfortunately, the Administration moved forward to finalize this rule, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis at our southern border. Our resolution aims to stop this program.”
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) sponsored the resolution, which was cosponsored by Sen. Young and U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV). It is under consideration in the Senate Judiciary Committee.